a. The psychology of crime victimization Training Module on the Right to Mental Health for the Security Sector 31 b. Common mental health disorders: post-traumatic disorder (PTSD)/acute stress disorder (ASD), mood disorder, anxiety disorder, schizophrenia, and other psychotic symptoms, alcohol and drug intoxication, and malingering. POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER: THE SYNDROME In clinical terminology, a syndrome is defined as a set of signs (what can be objectively observed by the clinician) and symptoms (what is subjectively experienced by the patient) that occur in a fairly regular pattern from patient to patient, under a given set of circumstances, and with a specific set of causes. Although a number of clinical syndromes may be observed following crime victimization, the most commonly diagnosed syndrome is post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, which is defined as a set of emotional and behavioral disturbances that follow exposure to a traumatic stressor or traumatically stressful experience that is typically outside the range of normal, everyday experience for that person. • Anxiety. The crime victim describes a continual state of free-floating anxiety or nervousness. There is a constant gnawing apprehension that something terrible is about to happen—largely based on the fact that something terrible has already happened. The victim maintains an intensive hypervigilance, scanning the environment for the least hint of impending threat or danger. • Physiological arousal. They experience increased bodily tension in the form of muscle tightness or knots, tremors or shakiness, restlessness, fatigue, heart palpitations, breathing difficulties, dizziness, headaches, stomach and bowel disturbances, urinary frequency, or menstrual disturbances. About one-half of PTSD patients show a classic hyper startled reaction: surprised by an unexpected door slam, telephone ring, loud sneeze, or even just hearing their name called. They may literally jump out of their seat and then spend the next few minutes trembling with fear and anxiety. • Irritability. There may be a pervasive feeling of having a chip-on-the-shoulder, edginess, impatience, loss of humor, and quick anger over seemingly trivial matters. • Avoidance and denial. The crime victim tries to blot out the event from their mind. They avoid thinking of the crime and shuns news articles, radio programs, or TV shows that remind them of the incident. “I just don’t want to talk about it,” is the standard response, and the patient may claim to have forgotten important aspects of the event. Some of this is a deliberate, conscious effort to avoid trauma reminders. In the early phases, this avoidance may frustrate criminal investigators who are trying to access the victim’s memory for clues that can help them solve the crime. • Intrusion. Despite the patient’s best efforts to keep the traumatic event out of their mind, the horrifying incident pushes its way into consciousness, often rudely and abruptly in the form of intrusive images of the event by